Blog Archives

We’ve been through the various actors who have played, or are still to play, Batman and those that dare to oppose him. However, everyone needs friends… even the big black bat! Let’s do this in order of the films…

ALLIES, FRIENDS and OTHERS

Who does the Bat class as his BFFs?

Michael Gough – ALFRED

Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin

“I have no wish to fill my few remaining years grieving for the loss of old friends. Or their sons.”

There couldn’t be a Batman film without Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s loyal helper. Michael Gough played the character for four films and helped out three different Batmen!

Perfect for the role of Alfred, Gough delivered every line with class and style. He was so believable, even in the disaster that was Batman & Robin! He has one of those acting styles that make’s us wish that we had our own Alfred or that he was our Granddad, telling us stories from long ago! Michael Gough passed away in 2011 at the great age of 94.

Kim Basinger played the part of Vicki Vale, love interest for Bruce Wayne. During the 80’s, Basinger was at the top of her game and on the wall of every teenage boy! It is understandable why she was cast as the damsel in distress in a superhero movie.

Basinger played the character well, but was a little one dimensional. I would have liked to have seen her a little less in distress and little move feisty!

Robin was always going to arrive in the films at some point and he did in Batman Forever with Chris O’Donnell taking on the role, just beating Leo DiCaprio. He was a rising star, young, athletic and handsome, he seemed to have everything it took to be a Hollywood heartthrob.

The only let-down is that, in the Batman films at least, O’Donnell isn’t the best actor in the world. In fact his performance in Batman & Robin is believed by many to be the reason his career took a downward tumble.

“You like strong women. I’ve done my homework. Or do I need skin-tight vinyl and a whip?”

Nicole Kidman took on the role of Dr. Chase Meridian, another love interest for Bruce Wayne/Batman. She played the part as well as she could, she had a bit of fight in her but ultimately was still just the damsel in distress for Batman to save.

Kidman’s career took off after Batman Forever and is now a household name. She didn’t reprise her role in Batman & Robin… which is probably a good thing!

Alicia Silverstone, like Chris O’Donnell (Robin), seemed to have everything going for her. She had starred in a couple of successful movies, and had a youthful attractiveness to her.

Unfortunately she chose to star as Barbara Wilson AKA Batgirl in Batman & Robin. Her career never really took off, possibly due to the flop of this film. Yes, she looked good in the Batgirl outfit but cheesy dialogue and a terrible storyline ruined everything about this film!

Who better to play Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler and Batman’s number one advisor than the genius that is Michael Caine! A Christopher Nolan favourite, Caine’s portrayal of Alfred is brilliant and some of his finest work.

He makes the character so believable. You feel every sentence he speaks, be it giving Bruce some words of encouragement or warning, or telling a story from his rich history. And the scene in Dark Knight Rises when he leaves Bruce’s side… wow! Michael Caine is an actor who, I think, is getting better and better with age!

Gary Oldman is one of those actors who has been in a LOT of films and, unfortunately, not all of them good. However, for every bad film he’s in, he picks a winner to counteract it. Taking the role of Jim Gordon in Nolan’s Batman films was definitely a winner!

Oldman is one of those tried and tested actors who knows the game so well he could probably play it with his eyes shut. A lot of his acting comes from his face alone and he plays that ‘down-trodden’ guy who just wants to do the right thing so well. A brilliant take on a well known character.

“It has a long uninteresting name. I just took to calling it… The Bat, and yes, Mr. Wayne, it does come in black.”

Ah Morgan Freeman. Add Morgan Freeman to any film and it instantly raises it’s profile. He has one of those voices that just dreamily slides into your head. Not that he doesn’t make some odd choices of course. Like Gary Oldman, he has been in a lot of films and not all of them good. Yet he still manages to do great things with the characters he is given.

His take on Lucius Fox, a techno wizard, is brilliant. I believed every word he was saying and want him to build me my own Batmobile! Well done Mr Freeman!

Katies Holmes has had an odd sort of career. Found fame in teen angst drama Dawson’s Creek, made a few films and then, of course, there was that Tom Cruise situation. Batman Begins was a great choice for her to really boost her career and launch her into stardom.

Holmes is a good actor, I wouldn’t go as far to say she was great, but she was good enough for the love interest of Bruce Wayne. Then, so we’re told, she decided not to reprise her role in The Dark Knight, which on retrospect, considering how well it did, she probably regrets. Bummer Holmes. Bummer.

With Katie Holmes dropping out of the sequel to Batman Begins, Maggie Gyllenhaal stepped up to fill her shoes. In a bolder, more daring Batman film, Gyllenhaal got to play a feistier versoin of Rachel Dawes. torn between two loves, she plays the pivotal character that leads Batman down the routes he takes.

Gyllenhaal is one of those actresses that injects her personality into her roles and this one is no different. She took what Katie Holmes had done with the character and made her her own. She makes us care for her enough, so when she dies, he feel Bruce and Harvey’s pain.

I’ll be honest, when it was announced that Anne Hathaway was going to play Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman, I groaned. I wasn’t really a fan. Luckily, with a few of the films she had out around that time, she changed my mind!

A Catwoman like Michelle Pfieffer would never work in Nolan’s Batman so Hathaway played her more of a cat burglar from a poor background. She brought a great combination of zest, sex appeal and strength to the role. She also played on the characters lack of loyalty really well. Here was a character that was neither good or bad and only in it for herself. I would have liked to have seen a little more screen time with her, but she still did a great job!

It was a bit of surprise when it was announced that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a role in Dark Knight Rises. No one could quite figure out who he was going to play. The biggest guess was that he would play The Riddler (which would have been awesome by the way!). Instead he plays Blake, a Gotham cop, just trying to do what’s best for the city. It’s not until the end when we find out his real name – Robin – that we click! Ahhh!

JGL has a likeable factor to him that will always do him well on-screen. He is a committed actor who takes his roles very seriously and you can tell by his performances. I loved that they didn’t make him some huge hero that saves everyone in the city – instead keeping him a realistic character who is a hero for saving a group of young children. A great character by a great actor.

So that’s it. That’s a hell of a lot of brilliant actors to have the honour of starring in a Batman film (or dishonour as in Batman & Robin‘s case). Now imagine if all of those actors got together to make one huge Batman film. That would be something!

Yes, there are some other characters in the Batman films played by great actors, such as Rutger Hauer, Tom Wilkinson and Ken Watanabe, not to mention all of the smaller characters played by great actors hoping to catch their big break. But I couldn’t go on all day. Jeesh… I’m too busy saving people in distress. Didn’t you know?